Hourglass
by SmilingArtist
Summary: -Time-travel- Sakura never expected to get sent back to the past with Sai of all people. Now they must save Konoha for the sake of the future. And what’s this, Team Seven is going to be a four-man squad? -SaiSaku-
1. Sands of Time

**Author's Note****:**  
I've seen so many time-travel fics but never one with the pairing SaiSaku! It's so unfair! So I decided to write my own. Oh and don't worry, I haven't abandoned any of my other fics. Hope you enjoy! Please review after you finished reading. I would like some feedback.

**Disclaimer:**  
I do not own Naruto or any of its characters

**-X-**

**HOURGLASS**

**-X-**

**Summary:** Sakura never expected to get sent back to the past with Sai of all people. Now they must save Konoha for the sake of the future. And what's this, Team Seven is going to be a four-man squad?

**Pairing:** SaiSaku

**Genre:** Action / Adventure / Romance

**Speech:**

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

**-X-**

**Chapter One**_  
-__Sands of Time- _

**-X-**

Haruno Sakura had always known her shishou, Konoha's Godaime Hokage, Tsunade, to be an sake addict woman but she swears that the blonde must have had a bit too much to drink to come up with an idea such as this. There was no way on Earth that she was able to complete such a mission. After all, Sakura had only just been promoted to ANBU a few days ago. She still hadn't had the chance to go on an S-ranked mission yet. This mission was most probably over S-rank! Sakura swears that Tsunade must be secretly plotting to get rid of her.

That evil woman…

"Shishou, can you please repeat that once more?" Sakura almost begged in a desperate manner.

She could only wish that this was all just a terrible dream.

To her right was a black haired man with pale white skin. His coal black eyes shone with no emotions whatsoever at the news.

The temptation to bang her head on her desk was strong but Tsunade held it back. She sighed once more and repeated herself to her agitated apprentice.

"I'm sending you both on a mission back to the past. Although he's not a threat at the moment, I'm sure Orochimaru will one day attack Konoha, along with Sasuke."

Sakura swallowed at the name.

"We must do everything in our power to prevent this and I believe that we should start from scratch," Tsunade explained, resting her chin on her crossed fingers.

"Ah, I see," Sai spoke up as he smiled blankly.

"B-but why me, why us…why _him_?!" Sakura whispered the last part as she pointed an accusatory finger at the ANBU Root operative.

Even though it had been three years since she had known the black haired male they still couldn't have a decent conversation with each other for a minute before the insults would erupt. Although Sakura knew that it wasn't done on purpose, this never stopped her from sending him on a one-way trip to the hospital, thanks to her inhuman strength. You would have thought that at least by now Sai would get the message 'don't mess with Haruno Sakura'. Every now and then he would call her 'Ugly' or 'Hag' or even worse a mixture of both. Despite the fact that it was not a deliberate action, Sakura still felt the need to teach the man a lesson. Tsunade knew that they wouldn't get along really well, so why was she insisting on sending Sai?

"Sai is at ANBU level and he is familiar with dangerous missions such as this. I'm sure you would want to work with someone you're familiar with other then a random ANBU, am I not correct?" This came out more like a statement.

"Then what about someone else, like Neji-san or Shikamaru? They're ANBU level as well," Sakura protested.

Tsunade frowned. "Neji is the Hyuuga clan heir. So he-"

"I thought Hinata-san was the heiress," Sai interrupted.

"She decided that she wasn't suited for the position and asked for the position to be handed over to Neji, who is more than capable of handling such a role," the blonde explained.

"I see."

"Then what about Shikamaru?" Sakura inquired.

"He's Konoha's best strategist. You think I would send him away from the village when he's best needed here. Although you guys are going to change the future somehow, you don't expect us to just sit back and watch as Orochimaru kills us off, now do you?"

"No…" Sakura looked crestfallen.

It was clear that Tsunade would not change her mind on this.

Tsunade smiled slightly before turning to Sai, holding out a scroll for him to receive. Sai accepted it without questioning.

"Once you arrive, show that to the Sandaime Hokage and from then on out follow his orders."

"Does that mean we won't be able to return to this time?" Sai inquired.

"Well, yes, but only once," the blonde explained.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

Tsunade opened the bottom drawer of her desk and took out an item. She held it out to Sakura. Sakura took the item and examined it. It was a silver chained necklace with a small golden hourglass attached to the chain. The rosette turned the hourglass upside-down and watched with curious eyes as the black sand fell.

"It's a necklace," Sai stated the obvious.

Tsunade nodded. "You're right. But it's not a normal one. This is one of the ancient time-travelling artefacts that have been found by Konoha. All you have to do is put the necklace around both your necks, insert your chakra into the hourglass and turn it anti-clockwise. The number of turns depends on how far back in years you want to travel. For you two, six turns would benefit," she explained. "Just remember, turning it anti-clockwise will take you into the past whereas clockwise takes you to the future. I would suggest that you only travel back in time no more than once otherwise it could disrupt the balance between space and time. If that happens…well, let's just hope it won't."

Sakura nodded.

"…Hokage-sama," Sai suddenly spoke up after a moment of silence.

"What is it?"

"When you said 'this is _one _of the ancient time-travelling artefacts' does that mean there's others out there as well?"

Tsunade inwardly smirked at his sharpness. "Yes, in fact there are more artefacts out there. Three to be exact but don't bother questioning about them. All I can tell you is that their locations are unknown, even to me."

Sai nodded.

"Alright then, I think it's time to get this mission started. Sakura, hand me the necklace. I need to place it around both your necks."

Sakura handed the necklace to her mentor with a dazed expression on her face. _Did she just say around _both _our necks?_

"_Damn right she did!" _Inner Sakura exclaimed, pumping her fists.

_Wait…then that would mean… _Her eyes widened in realization.

"Sai, hurry up and move closer to Sakura. I don't have all day," Tsunade said, tapping her foot impatiently with the necklace in hand.

Sai nodded and then without warning, grabbed Sakura around the waist and pulled her against his chest. Sakura could feel heat beginning to travel towards her face. She could feel the beat of her dark haired teammate's heart pounding gently against her chest. Sakura sucked in a deep breath, taking in the smell of pine and mint.

"_Sai smells so delicious!" _Inner Sakura drooled.

Sakura almost rolled her eyes. _Great…I'm turning into a scent pervert, _she thought.

If Tsunade had a camera then she would not hesitate to take a picture, but for now she just settled for a light smirk. For many times in her life, Tsunade had tried numerous times to set Sakura up with someone, although her apprentice kept refusing her offer. At first the blonde thought it was because of a certain Uchiha but Sakura had explained to her that she never did love Sasuke. It was just a crush, which she mistook for love and paid a hard price for – a broken heart. The Godaime Hokage now knew that her apprentice was not saving herself up for the Uchiha; she was trying to avoid falling in love, afraid that her heart might break once again.

Tsunade had suspicions that this was why Sakura had decided to join ANBU in the first place. She wanted to rid herself of emotions to protect herself from other emotional pains in her life. Tsunade hated seeing her this way but if this was the path that she chose to take then she won't stop her. But still, the idea of Sakura running around in ANBU uniform, killing off all those people, like a cold-hearted monster, made Tsunade sick to her stomach.

She missed the old Sakura.

But after seeing Sakura behave the way she did today with Sai brought a microscopic smile to her face. Perhaps her apprentice would not change after all, she mused noting the blush on Sakura's face.

Shaking her head slightly out of her thoughts, Tsunade stepped forward and chained the necklace around their necks.

Sakura shifted uncomfortably. "Uhh…shishou, it's kind of tight," she said.

"Sorry, can't do anything about it," Tsunade said, inwardly chuckling at her apprentice's despair.

Sai just stood as still as a statue, although you could tell that his hands were itching to rip the necklace off of their necks.

"Now then, touch the hourglass with your finger and insert your chakra."

The two did as they were told. Immediately, the sand in the hourglass turned grey.

"Now turn it anti-clockwise six times."

Sai grabbed the hourglass and turned it six times slowly. Once he was done the sand in the glass changed colour once again from grey to white. A few seconds later, light engulfed the entire office.

Tsunade shielded her eyes. When the light ceased, no one was there besides her. With a sigh she sat down tiredly on her chair.

It worked.

She spun her chair around and glanced out the window, down at the village. Children ran through the streets without a care in the world and shinobis acted out their daily lives, unaware of the huge devastating war that was soon approaching.

She clenched her fists.

The fate of the future now lies in the hand of two teenagers – Sai and Haruno Sakura. But will that make it in time?

After all…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…time was running out…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…as we speak…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

**-X-**

**Author's Note:**  
Bah! That was like such a lame ending! I suck at those things… Sorry if it wasn't that interesting but it's only the first chapter. I try and make the next one longer but I won't make any promises. Please review! Flames are not accepted but constructive criticism is. See you in the next chapter! Meanwhile, please check out my other stories (though they're probably not that good :P)

**-X-**

_-Setsuna_


	2. The Time Stream

**Author's Note:**  
Yosh! I'm done with chapter two! I can't believe that I got seventeen reviews in the first chapter. Thank you so much for your support. Hope you enjoy this chapter. It's longer than the last so hopefully you'll find that satisfying. Please review after you finished reading. If you're wondering how old Sakura and Sai were in chapter one, it'll all be revealed in this chapter. I thought I made it clear in the last one but I guess not…oh, well! Enjoy chapter two!

**-X-**

**Chapter Two**_  
-__The Time Stream-_

**-X-**

The first thing that Sai noticed when he opened his eyes was that he was no longer in the office. Instead, he found himself staring up blankly at the ceiling of someone's bedroom. Blue, pink and yellow – these were the only colour which he could distinguish from the blinding light.

Sai almost groaned. Who on Earth doesn't pull their curtains when they go to sleep?

His coal-black gaze drifted down towards the figure who buried her face in his neck, still sleeping peacefully. His lips pursed. There was the answer. His hands itched to unclasp the necklace but since his arms were held tightly within her inhuman grasp, it was made seemingly impossible to do so. He tried to shake her awake and in return, she gave him a tired groan.

Sakura shifted about uncomfortably but of course that was difficult as it was to do. The chain around their necks was as tight as ever. She was starting to wonder why Sai hadn't removed the necklace yet, seeing as how they've already made it to the past… Her eyes snapped opened at this.

Without thinking, she launched herself upwards from the bed, bringing an unexpected Sai up with her.

"Watch it, Hag," Sai remarked dully.

The rosette gave him a glare from the corner of her eyes. "Why haven't you unclasped this thing?" she demanded.

"Geez, I thought you were only supposed to be ugly, not stupid as well."

Glare.

"You're the one who insisted on holding tightly onto me in the first place, thus stopping my attempts at freeing myself from your ugliness. I know you can't resist me but enough is enough."

Insert blank smile.

Sakura growled. "Sai…you are so-"

She never got to finish her sentence because just at that exact moment, a knock on the door was heard.

"Sakura, are you awake yet?"

Sakura froze at the sound of her mother's voice and kept quiet.

"Aren't you going to answer her? I read in a book that when someone asks a question, you're supposed to-"

"Not now, Sai," Sakura hissed, cutting him off and began struggling to unclasp the necklace.

The last thing she wanted was for her mother to walk in on them in a position like this. The woman would just jump to the wrong conclusion and ask her endless amount of questions.

She was not here for an interrogation.

"Sakura, why aren't you answering?" Her mother's voice was now starting to sound impatient. "If you don't answer me in the next five seconds, I'm coming in there! What are you doing in there? Are you okay?"

Sakura groaned. Now she remembered why she had moved out into an apartment in the future. Her mother was like a more protective and female version of Naruto. She wondered how she was able to stand her for so long. Now don't get her wrong or anything. She loves her mother really much but at times like this she couldn't help but agree with Shikamaru.

Women are troublesome.

Suddenly, she felt the necklace around their necklace being lifted away. Sakura looked up to see Sai standing up with the hourglass necklace in hand. Just at that moment, the door swung open and her mother stormed in with her arms crossed.

Sakura quickly looked behind at Sai, only to find no one there.

_That was fast, _she thought dryly and turned back to face her mother.

"Good morning, okaa-san," she greeted, standing up from her bed.

Her mother gave her a sour look. "Don't you think it's still too early to be making such noises? The sun isn't even up yet," she remarked.

True enough, instead of being sunny and blue, the sky was still slightly dark. The only light that was in the sky was from the rising sun, which was still slowly making its way up.

_Oh…_

"Just what on Earth were all those noise earlier?"

"What noises?" Sakura asked innocently.

Just act like you didn't know. Luckily for Sakura, her mother wasn't exactly the stubborn type.

"It must be your imagination, okaa-san."

Her mother's eyes narrowed slightly before she let out a sigh. "I guess you're right. I'm probably just tired," she muttered.

"Yeah, you are. So you better go back to sleep, okay?" Sakura pushed her mother out of her room.

"H-hey-"

"Good night!"

The door slammed shut.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. Glad that was over. Her eyes shone brightly as they scanned across her old bedroom. It had been a while since she was in this room. Ever since she was made chuunin when she was fourteen she had moved out into her own apartment. Thinking this made her feel slightly nostalgic.

She let out a smile. After all, it was good to be home.

The sun finally rose all the way up the horizon. Sakura blinked as the light momentarily blinded her. She walked towards her closet with a sigh. She might as well get ready for the day. Her hands pulled opened the doors of her closet and was immediately met with the sight of red and pink. Sakura's expression went crestfallen and closed the door slowly. There was no way that she was going to wear her genin clothes ever again. Not only did it get in the way, it was also way too bright.

She let out an exasperated sigh as her sea-green eyes looked hopelessly around the room.

"Guess I'll just have to go shopping later," she muttered, walking forward.

With clumsy feet, Sakura tripped and began to tumble forward. She let out a shriek and grabbed the nearest thing closest to her, pulling it down with her. Although she still fell, it did help soften the landing.

"Thank God this was here," she said to herself, looking at the object in her hands.

It was a white Chinese styled shirt with red outlines. On the back was a picture of a red and orange flame with the black kanji of 'fighting spirit' imprinted on the flame. Sakura's eyes immediately lit up with an idea. She got up from the ground and dug through her drawer and pulled out a pair of white khaki pants.

Just plain and simple, she mused.

After getting dressed she inspected herself in the mirror.

"_Not bad, if I must say so myself," _Inner Sakura commented as Sakura tied her hitai-ate around her head.

Sakura's hands paused at her hair. It was still long and would get in the way of battle, but something tells her that now was not the right time to cut it. So in the end she got out a thin, red ribbon and tied her hair up into a semi-high ponytail.

_Now, time to look for Sai,_ she thought, walking out her room.

"Bye, okaa-san!" she called and rushed out the door before her mother could comment on the clothes.

"Now, where did he go?" Sakura looked around for the black haired ANBU.

"You must really need training for not being able to detect me," his voice came.

Sakura looked up to see Sai perched up on top of the maple tree that was situated next to her bedroom window.

"Sai!"

Sai gave her a fake smile. "Good morning, Ugly," he greeted as he scanned his eyes across her outfit. "Nice clothes."

Sakura smiled. At least he gave her a compliment. Perhaps this mission with him won't be so bad after all…

"It just brings out your Ugliness even more."

…or maybe not.

Sakura growled. "Sai…you-"

"We better go and see Hokage-sama," he stated, cutting her off.

She inwardly let out a huff but nodded. One day, he will pay.

_Just you wait, Sai, just you wait…_she thought evilly.

Sai sneezed violently.

It took a total of thirty minutes before they finally reached the Sandaime, Sarutobi Hiruzen's office. You may be wondering why they took so long. Well, the answer was simple to say the least. They had to stop every five minutes so that Sakura could pound Sai to the ground for his rude insults.

The two guards at the door were sceptical to say the least when these two kids asked for an appointment with the Hokage. They tried to get them to scram but immediately froze when the girl gave them a death glare and the boy gave them both a smile. For some odd reason, the two guards just felt frightened to death – not from the glare but surprisingly from the smile. It was just so blank. There were no emotions whatsoever put into it – just absolutely nothing.

Swallowing a gulp, the two guards let them in, keeping a cautious eye on the boy's back. They knew one thing for sure.

That boy was not normal.

**-X-**

Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced up from his paperwork as soon as a knock on the door was heard. He frowned slightly and took in a puff of smoke from his pipe. Just what were his guards doing? He ordered them strictly not to let anyone in until he finished his paperwork. The knocking grew louder.

Hiruzen sighed. "Come in," he said, wanting to see who was able to get past his guards.

He was surprised to say the least when two _kids _appeared before him. One was Haruno Sakura, a girl that he'd recognized as a student at the academy. Soon to be a member of Team Seven, he mused inwardly. His gaze drifted towards the person standing on her right, who was covered in a few scratches, rubbing his cheek where Sakura had punched. Hiruzen's eyebrows furrowed slightly. If he'd recall, this was one of Danzo's subordinates. What was Sakura doing with a guy like him?

"How may I help you two?" the Sandaime asked in a kind voice.

Sai reached into his pocket and pulled out the scroll that Tsunade gave him and handed it to Hiruzen. With his guard still up, Hiruzen accepted the scroll; never once taking his eyes off Sai.

Slowly, he unrolled it and scanned his eyes across the contents. _Ah, I see…_ he thought once he finished.

"Tell me, how old you are exactly, what your ranks are and your name?" he asked in an even tone; the last part of the question directed towards Sai only.

"Haruno Sakura, eighteen, ranked ANBU."

"Sai, nineteen, ranked ANBU."

The Sandaime Hokage nodded. "Tsunade only sent you two?"

"Yes."

There was a moment of silence before it was broken by a sigh being emitted from the old Hokage.

"Alright then, if you need any form of assistance please come to me and I'll help the best I can," he said.

Sakura smiled and bowed. "Thank you, Hokage-sama," she said.

Hiruzen smiled kindly. "No need to bow, dear. If I recall, today is the day of the Genin Graduation, is it not?"

Sakura's eyes widened. "I'm late!" she cried as she made her way towards the door. "Please excuse me, Hokage-sama!"

The door slammed shut and the sounds of Sakura's hurried footsteps echoed through the hallway. The Sandaime waited until it was silent before he turned towards Sai.

"Now, as for you…"

**-X-**

"I'm not going to be late on the first day," Sakura muttered, walking briskly through the halls of the academy, towards the classroom.

In other situations similar to this she would just use the Shunshin no Jutsu to teleport to the room. But it would be kind of strange to see a newly graduated genin perform such a jutsu that even chuunins have trouble with mastering.

She did not want to take the risk.

As soon as she turned the corner, Sakura felt herself collide with something hard. Since she trained in ANBU, Sakura was able to keep her feet steady and not fall. But the other person wasn't so lucky.

"What the hell was that?" a familiar blonde muttered under his breath.

Sakura's opened in shock. "Naruto?!"

Naruto looked up at the sound of his name and grinned. "Sakura-chan!"

He immediately jumped back onto his feet and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't see you there."

"Where are you going anyway?" she asked suspiciously.

Naruto chuckled nervously. "Uh…nowhere?" he said, although it came out more like a question.

Sakura crossed her arms and frowned.

"Alright, I'll tell you!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms up. "I just didn't want to stay in the same room with Sasuke-teme-"

Sakura flinched at the name but Naruto took no notice of this and just continued.

"-after what had happened," Naruto muttered, recalling the little incident that had happened a few minutes earlier.

"I need mouthwash," he grumbled to himself.

Sakura rolled her eyes. Typical Naruto…

"Yeah, whatever," she said. "You have to go back otherwise you'll miss out on the announcement."

The two of them proceeded forward in silence, both of their heads swarming around with different thoughts.

_I wonder where Sai went, _Sakura wondered.

_Mm, did Sakura-chan change her outfit? _Naruto thought, scanning his sapphire orbs over her form. _Well I have to admit it does look better than the other one._

It took all the strength Sakura had from bursting out in a fit of emotions when they had arrived in the classroom. She was immediately greeted by the sight of all the Rookie Nine members, including _him_.

There he was, sitting there by the desk with his head resting on his crossed fingers. Fan-girls were all swarmed around him, gushing out praises and swooning at his looks.

He just ignored them all.

_I'm starting to wonder what I saw in him in the first place, _she thought bitterly. _I can see that his attitude hasn't changed a bit._

"What's with those tacky clothes?!" came a familiar feminine voice.

Sakura cringed and turned towards the source of the loud voice. She was immediately greeted with the sight of platinum-blonde hair and sky-blue eyes.

_Ino… _she thought with a smile.

After Sasuke had left, the two kunoichis had become inseparable and closer than ever, although they still had fights ever now and then. Ino was her best friend. They never shared secrets from each other ever since the day Sasuke had left. Even when Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi left her side, Ino had stayed with her. But of course _this _Ino was still as annoying as ever, she mused.

"If you're trying to impress Sasuke-kun then you might as well give up, Forehead, 'cause the only one that's going to win his heart is me!" Ino exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at her rival.

Sakura almost laughed. _I_ _might as well play along, _she thought, noticing that most of the people's attention was directed towards them.

"What are you talking about, Ino-pig?!" Sakura screeched. Sasuke-kun is mine!"

"What was that, Billboard Brow?!"

"You heard me!"

"Why you-!"

Sakura inwardly smiled. Having argument with Ino was always so refreshing. She was able to relieve herself of the stress building up in her body without having to resort to violence, since their fights were mostly verbal and not physical.

A few minutes later, Iruka appeared. Ino immediately rushed towards the empty seat besides Sasuke and gave all the other kunoichis a smirk of triumph. Sakura sighed and sat down besides a half-asleep Shikamaru.

"Hey Shikamaru," she chirped.

Shikamaru grumbled under his breath which sounded suspiciously like the word 'troublesome'. Sakura just smiled.

Some things never change.

"Starting today, you are all official shinobis," Iruka began. "But you're all still genin. It's going to get much harder from here. You'll all be put into a team of three, led by a jounin."

Murmuring immediately sprouted from the genin graduates. Most of the girls prayed that they were going to be with Sasuke. Sakura almost snorted at this. Wishful thinking won't get you anywhere.

"I wonder who's going to be in Sasuke-kun team," Ino said from below her.

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know," she lied.

She knew perfectly well who was going to be in _his_ team.

_A team of three…that's only going to be a burden, _a certain someone thought with a frown.

_First would be Sakura-chan and second…I can live with anyone just as long as it's not Sasuke, _Naruto said to himself.

"We've arranged the groups such that overall ability is equivalent," Iruka explained. "I will now announce them."

But before he was able to continue, a chuunin appeared in a puff of smoke and handed him a message.

"It's from Hokage-sama," the chuunin said before disappearing.

Iruka blinked before unfolding the piece of paper. He raised an eyebrow before turning his attention towards his impatient class.

"Sorry about that," he apologized, and then went onto announcing the teams.

"Team One…"

"_This is so boring!" _Inner Sakura exclaimed. _"Sai is so lucky! He doesn't have to get put into a genin team! Shannaro!"_

Sakura mentally agreed. Speaking of Sai…just where on Earth was he?

"Now then, under special circumstances made by the Hokage, Team Seven will be a four-man team."

Sakura's ears perked up at this statement. _W-wha…?_

"Team Seven will consist of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and-"

"Hold it!" Naruto exclaimed, cutting Iruka off. "Why does a great shinobi like me have to be in the same group as an arrogant guy like him?!" He pointed an accusatory finger at the raven haired boy.

Iruka's vein popped in annoyance. "Well, if you must know, Naruto. Sasuke scored the highest in the test, while you came dead-last. So that's why we always put the best with the worst," he said in a surprisingly calm voice.

"Hn, dobe," Sasuke muttered.

"What was that, teme?!"

"Hard of hearing?"

"Why you-!"

"Both of you shut up and let Iruka-sensei finish," Sakura snapped, shutting them both up.

The class, including Iruka, looked flabbergasted. They could understand her telling Naruto to shut up but not Sasuke. After all, she was classified as Sasuke's biggest fan-girl…right?

Right now, Sakura could careless about what they class thought of her. All she wanted to know was who the forth member of Team Seven would be.

_Did we mess with the time stream that much already? _She questioned herself worriedly before turning back to Iruka.

"Thank you, Sakura," Iruka said slowly, still recovering from shock. "Now, where was I…? Oh, yes that's right! The fourth and final member of Team Seven is-"

Before he could finish, there was a knock on the door.

Sakura mentally groaned. She was going to kill whoever was at the door.

"Come in!" Iruka called, slightly annoyed at being interrupted again.

The door swung open and in came the person.

Sakura's eyes widened. There he was, standing there in all his glory. His black hair shone brightly in the light and his lips curved into that familiar annoyingly fake smile.

"I was told by Hokage-sama to come here. My name is Sai," he told Iruka, still smiling.

Iruka blinked and nodded before turning his attention back towards the class.

Sakura's eyes met with Sai's before they lit up in realization. _Wait a minute, don't tell me-!_

"And the final member of Team Seven is Sai." Iruka gestured towards the emotionless ANBU.

Sai gave them all a fake smile. "Hi there."

Sakura groaned out loud. She had a feeling that this was going to happen. What was the Hokage thinking, putting Sai into her team? Him! Sai – an official member of Team Seven!

The rosette sank deeper into her seat.

This was going to be a _long _day…

**-X-**

**Author's Note:**  
Muwahahaha! I wonder what's going to happen next? Hm…well that's for me to know and you to find out! Please review! Flames are not accepted but constructive criticism is. About Sakura's outfit, you can see it in episode three of Naruto when she was getting ready in her room. I always wondered why she never worn that outfit so I decided why not make her wear it here! And if you think that Sakura is still obsessed with Sasuke then you're dead wrong! I would never make her a Sasuke fan-girl in my stories. I find that highly annoying. If you have any questions about the story then please ask in a review. Oh, and don't worry! I won't make them (Sai and Sakura) fall in love straight away because I myself find those stories highly annoying. It would just ruin the whole plot if they suddenly have feeling for each other without any development. So you don't have to worry about rushed romance here. Now that that's done, see you in the next chapter!

**-X-**

**The Pretty List:**_  
Too lazy to log in…  
xXxJaycee81196xXx  
Maxmoquito  
BrookeeeBones  
MarzSpy  
Emily Le Fay  
Mad Hatter of Duck Sauce  
Wandering Child of Music  
PiperDreamer  
Elion of the Black Sunrise  
Fangyrl381  
Treason for Love  
Essence of Soup  
Num Num  
moonshine86  
OkamiKunoichi21  
Kaitsu Himaru_

Thanks for reviewing in the first chapter!

**-X-**

_-Setsuna_


	3. First Impressions

**Author's Note:**  
-Sigh- I'm slightly disappointed in the lack of reviews in the last chapter. Oh, well… Thank you to those who did review. I appreciate it. Here's the next chapter. Hopefully you find it more interesting than the last.

**-X-**

**Chapter Three**_  
-First Impressions-_

**-X-**

This…was…a nightmare.

Sakura twitched, Naruto twitched, even the ever so stoic Uchiha Sasuke twitched. _He _just stood there…smiling mechanically. The room was silent except for the occasional noises from Sakura cracking her knuckles and Naruto cursing underneath his breath.

Late. He was two freaking hours late. This was something that Sakura was never going to get used to.

Never…

Not to mention, _he _wasn't helping one bit at all either.

_I'm going to kill him as slow and painfully as possible when this is over. _Sakura gave the ANBU-Root operative a dark stare.

Damn him and his insults, damn Naruto for getting so agitated, damn this stupid mission, damn Tsunade. She must be laughing her head off right at this very moment at her discomfort.

That evil sake-loving woman…

**-X-**

"ACHOO!" the great Godaime Hokage sneezed violently. "Urgh, someone must really hate me…" she muttered, taking in a large gulp of her sake.

**-X-**

"Argh, where the hell is he?!" Naruto finally snapped. "It's been like what…three hours?!"

Sakura groaned, massaging her temples. "Calm down, Naruto. I'm sure he'll be here soon," she assured, although she was really tempted to bang her head on the desk out of frustration.

That Kakashi-sensei…when was he ever going to be on time? All this waiting was starting to become really old, at least to her it was. Sasuke and Naruto just didn't know that this was going to become their sensei's bad habit.

_They would soon enough,_ Sakura thought bitterly.

"That's it, I've had it!" Naruto threw his arms up in frustration and proceeded towards the front of the class.

He picked up a chalkboard eraser and stuck it on top of the door.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sasuke asked dully.

Naruto snickered. "Hehe…this is his punishment for being late. When he arrives and opens the door…bam!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"A jounin would never fall for a lame prank like that, Dickless," Sai spoke up smiling.

Sakura sighed. Way to go, Sai. That definitely would have gotten Naruto riled up again. Her shoulders slumped. Here we go again…

"What did you ca-?!"

Before he was able to finish his outburst, a gloved hand slid through the door and slid it open. The chalkboard eraser immediately fell and bounced off harmlessly on the waves of silver hair. The jounin paused for a second before bending down to recover the eraser.

"Hm, my first impression…you're all a bunch of idiots," the silver haired masked man stated bluntly.

Naruto couldn't take it anymore and burst out into fits of laughter. "Haha! I can't believe you fell for that!"

_This is a jounin? _Sasuke thought with mild disbelief.

Sakura just stared.

"Well what do you know, Dickless's prank actually worked," Sai mused.

Naruto snickered. "You bet it did!"

…

…

…wait a minute…

"Stop calling me that, you asshole!"

Sai smiled. "I'm only stating the truth, though."

"You little-!"

Sakura sighed once again. _Oh, brother…_

**-X-**

"Now then, why don't you tell me more about yourselves," Kakashi said as they reached the rooftop of the academy.

The two genins and two ANBU sat down on a long bench while their sensei leaned against the steel rails with his arms folded; his expression showed that he'd rather be anywhere but here.

"What do you mean sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, I don't know…maybe likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams for the future?"

Sasuke frowned. "Then why don't you start us off," he said in a slightly rude tone.

Kakashi's lips formed a smile from beneath the mask. "Alright then, let's see. My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes…don't feel like telling you."

Sakura rolled her eyes. Same old Kakashi-sensei…

"Dreams…never really thought of that and as for my hobbies…well, I have lots of hobbies," he concluded, inwardly chuckling at the annoyed expression on Naruto and Sakura's face.

"Okay now your turn, Blondie." He pointed towards Naruto.

Naruto grinned and leaped up from the ground. "Alright! The name's Uzumaki Naruto. I love ramen and Sakura-chan!"

Sakura's face lit up in embarrassment and bashed him on the head, minus the inhuman strength of course.

Naruto cried in pain and clutched his head before continuing. "I hate the three minute wait for the ramen to cook and people like Sasuke-teme and him." He pointed towards Sai, who in return gave no response whatsoever.

"Hobbies are pranks, I guess…" Naruto paused.

Kakashi nodded. "What about your dream?"

At this Naruto gave him a determined look. "My dream is to become the greatest Hokage this village has ever seen. That way the villagers will stop disrespecting me and finally acknowledge my existence," he finished.

Sakura smiled, knowing that the dream would come true. In the future, Tsunade had once discussed with her regarding Naruto's future Hokage training. From this she could tell that her shishou had made her decision on who her successor was going to be. Sakura couldn't even think of a better choice.

"Now then, your turn," Kakashi cut her out of her thoughts, gesturing towards Sasuke.

"Hn. Uchiha Sasuke. I dislike many things and I don't particularly like anything. My dream is not a dream because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and kill a certain someone," he spoke monotonously.

_Just as I though. _Kakashi's eyes hardened.

_Geez, I hope he doesn't mean me. _Naruto shivered.

_He has a long way to go before he can defeat Uchiha Itachi, _Sai thought, looking at the younger Uchiha from the corner of his eyes.

… Sakura didn't know what to think. Instead, she settled for glaring at him. He and his stupid revenge was one of the main causes of her and Naruto's suffering. Team Kakashi had been through a lot in order to bring him back to the village. At first Sakura blamed Uchiha Itachi for the cause of Sasuke's betrayal but the more she thought about it, the more doubt she felt. It was all Sasuke's own fault, not anyone else's. He was given the choice on whether to stay in Konoha and train with his teammates or go to Orochimaru. Instead of staying, he chose the easier way out and became a missing-nin.

Sakura's glare hardened. His actions and decision had only wounded Naruto physically, but mentally as well. This time around, she was going to snap some sense into that egotistic head of his, even if that means her having to shatter every single bone in his body.

"Okay then…it's your turn, young lady." Kakashi turned to face the kunoichi of the team.

He inwardly braced himself for the incoming girly praises and squeals. From what he had gathered from Iruka, Sakura was known as Uchiha Sasuke number one fan-girl. No doubt that her introduction will be filled with his name. Just what in the world was the Hokage thinking by letting her onto this team?

"My name is Haruno Sakura…" she paused to think.

How should she go about with her introduction? She thought back to the time when she was a genin.

**-X-**

"_I'm Haruno Sakura. Um…what I like, I mean, the _person_ that I like…" Sakura's eyes shifted towards Sasuke in a sly manner. _

_She squealed and kicked her legs together excitedly. "My hobbies and dreams…" The squeals grew louder._

_Sasuke just ignored her._

"_Okay, what do you hate?" Kakashi asked with a bored expression on his face._

_Sakura's face immediately scrunched up in annoyance. "Naruto!" she exclaimed._

_Naruto slumped in disappointment._

**-X-**

Sakura cringed at the memory. Not a really good way to make a first impression on your sensei, now was it? She sighed softly. Might as well change that, then.

"My likes are reading and medical ninjutsu. My dislikes are…traitors…" She bit her lower lip before continuing. "My hobbies are studying and training, I guess." She shrugged.

"Your dream?" Kakashi inquired, feeling a bit interested.

This was _not _what he expected.

"My dream or goal…is to become a great kunoichi who is able to protect everyone in this village," she said determinedly.

After all, she was a kunoichi with a mission to save the future.

_Sakura-chan's so cool! _Naruto thought with a mild blush.

Sai and Kakashi smiled whereas Sasuke looked disinterested as ever.

"That's an interesting dream," Kakashi mused, before turning to the final member of Team Seven. "And finally…"

Sai gave him his trademark smile. "I am Sai. I cannot tell you what I like or dislike…because I do not know myself. My hobby would be drawing and my dream is something that will never come true," he concluded.

Everything was silent once Sai had finished his introduction, aside from the occasional chirping of the birds.

_Sai…_ Sakura stared at him with the expression of a mix of amazement, confusion and interest on her face. _Just what exactly is your dream…?_

Although she had known him for three years already, there was still so much about Sai that Sakura was unaware about. Despite the fact that he didn't really have a personality and a trash can for a mouth, she found the ANBU Root operative to be quite interesting. Sakura wanted to learn more about the mystery behind him. This was her second goal in life.

"W-what do you mean you don't know what you like or dislike…how could you _not_ know?!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing a finger at the emotionless male.

Sai smiled blankly. "I guess it's because I don't feel anything." This statement had immediately quietened everyone, including Naruto, into their thoughts. "I have no emotions."

_What the does he mean by that? _Naruto thought confused.

_Hn. _Sasuke stared at him impassively.

_Just who is this boy anyway? _Kakashi thought, narrowing his eyes. _He sounds suspiciously like one of those ANBU Root agents…hm…_

Sakura gave him a shocked look. _What is he thinking?!_

"Well, I can tell that you're an interesting bunch," the masked jounin spoke up.

_Very interesting indeed. _

"Now then, before you're able to go any further you're all going to do a little survival exercise with me tomorrow," he finished.

"W-what, but why?!" Naruto shouted annoyed. "We've already done enough of that back at the academy!"

"This is not an ordinary exercise," Kakashi stated bluntly, silencing the blonde. "Out of the twenty-seven graduates only nine or ten-" His lone eye shifted towards Sai. "-will pass and continue their life as a genin. The rest will all be sent back to the academy."

Naruto and Sasuke stiffened at this.

"From now on the red bridge on the other side of village will be our meeting place. Meet me there at seven sharp tomorrow morning and don't be late," Kakashi said, straightening himself up from his position. "Oh, and don't eat breakfast."

"Why not?" Sasuke asked.

At this, Kakashi smiled. "Because you'll throw it back up." Then he was gone in a puff of smoke.

Naruto paled slightly.

"Well then, I better be on my way," Sai said, facing Sakura, indicating that he was only speaking to her.

"H-hey, wait a minute-"

With just one one-handed hand-seal, Sai disappeared in a whirl of black ink, cutting her off efficiently.

Sakura scowled and bit her fingernail. "Geez," she muttered before forming a hand-seal and disappeared in a flurry of flower petals, oblivious to the attention that she attracted from Sasuke and Naruto.

"Wow, that jutsu looked so awesome!" Naruto exclaimed. "I wonder where she learnt it."

_How was she able to perform the Shunshin no Jutsu? _Sasuke wondered, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. _Even _I _don't know it. _

As far as he knew, Haruno Sakura was known to be the least talented out of all the academy graduates. The only thing that was good about her was her intelligence. She was also one of his fans, but not once had she flirted with him ever since they were put into a team. In fact, Sasuke even caught her _glaring _at him a few times too.

His eyes hardened. Something was not right here.

**-X-**

Sai arrived at the door of his apartment in a whirl of ink. He looked around the surroundings before pulling out a silver key from his pocket to unlock the door. Stepping inside, he was immediately greeted by the sight of numerous paintings and pictures all covered in dust scattered on the floor. He mentally winced. This would take a while to clean. Perhaps he should try and ask Sakura to come over and clean this place up for him, he mused. Keyword: _try_. After all, he doubt that she would be want to clean up his mess for him at a free price. He might even earn himself a black eye from even attempting to ask.

Unclasping the tanto on his back, Sai proceeded forward towards his large wooden cupboard filled with his ANBU gear. As soon as he opened the door, Sai's eyes were immediately drawn towards the red and white ANBU mask that was in the shape of a tiger. His gloved hand reached out and picked it up, staring at it with a blank look.

In this time, he was still an ANBU Root operative. Just how would Danzou react when he realized what he was doing all this time? Sai might have to speak to the Sandaime Hokage about this later on. It was only a matter of time before Danzou would find out about his whereabouts and his secret mission. Not only would that put him in danger, but Sakura too. Sai didn't know why but the fact had bothered him greatly.

Suddenly, a flare of chakra from behind him snapped him out of his thoughts. Sai didn't react in surprise or turn around to greet the figure.

"What do you want?" he inquired, placing the mask back in he shelf along with his tanto.

Sakura crossed her arms. "I'm sure you know," she said bluntly. "What in the world were you thinking telling Kakashi-sensei about your personality or…lack of personality?"

Sai turned around and gave her an emotionless stare. "I fail to see the problem here, Sakura," he said.

Sakura almost groaned. "Kakashi-sensei is an ex-ANBU. Therefore, he's aware of the ANBU organizations such as Root. I think he's now suspicious of why an ANBU Root operative, such as yourself is on his team," she stated, shaking her head in mild annoyance.

Sai laughed faintly, though there was no humour behind his tone. "Kakashi-senpai is bound to find out sooner or later. So why not just tell him ahead of time." He smiled dully.

"…"

"Besides, you of all people should know how bad I'm at expressing emotions, whether real or fake."

Insert fake smile here.

Sakura sighed in defeat. "Fine, do what ever you want," she muttered, taking a seat on the crimson red couch, which was also covered in specks of dust.

Her face scrunched up together tightly. "This place is a mess," she stated.

"I think that's quite obvious," Sai said bluntly.

The medic-nin rolled her eyes. "When's the last time you've been in here anyway…a year?" she asked sardonically.

Sai smiled. "As a matter of fact, yes. This apartment actually belonged to my brother before he died a year ago. Ever since then, I've taken claim of this place. But because of all the missions in Root I hardly ever get the time to stay here. I mostly just rest in Root headquarters," he explained. "My brother never did like staying in headquarters. That's why he rented this apartment."

Sakura stared at him. How could he feel so casual while talking about his older brother, who was dead? Her shoulders dropped slightly. But of course, what should she expect. This was Sai, after all – the guy with no emotions. Even after three years of being together in a team, Sai's knowledge of emotions still hadn't improve, although it was better than the first few months of the forming of Team Yamato. Despite his trash can mouth, Sakura knew that Sai had a sensitive and somewhat shy side deep inside under that emotionless mask. Sakura couldn't help but find that to be cute.

…Wait a minute…

Sakura shook her head. Cute? Sai? What was she thinking? How could a guy with such an insufferable attitude be referred to as cute? Especially someone such as him…Sai.

Sai, the guy who had been apart of ANBU Root ever since he was a child.

The guy who claims to have no emotions.

The guy who repeatedly calls Naruto Dickless and her Hag…

…

…

…

…The guy who looks ridiculously similar to _him_.

Sakura's fist clenched. Her eyes hardened as they stared ahead at nothing in particular. No, that was not right. Sai was nothing like Sasuke. Sasuke was a cold-hearted avenger who rid himself of emotions and attachments in order to get revenge. Sai on the other hand was a more soft-hearted shinobi who was determined to learn more about expressing emotions and striving to bond more deeply with his teammates. Those who would take one look at Sai were immediately given the impression of Sasuke's look-alike or Sasuke's replacement. But Sakura knew better. He was not Sasuke's replacement. Unlike Sasuke, Sai was a true member of Team Kakashi.

She smiled at the ANBU Root operative. Yes, they were really different indeed. She let out a slight chuckle.

"Geez, Hag, I know I'm irresistible but would you quit staring at me. It's quite disturbing, I'm afraid."

_Very _different.

Sakura's eye twitched slightly but her smile remained plastered on her face. She shifted about to control herself from lashing out at the dark haired shinobi and in the process kicked something hard. Sakura blinked and bent down to pick up the object.

She stared. In her hand was a tanto, which was about the same length as Sai's. The hilt was black and red with a silver bell ornament hanging off it. Sakura pulled it out of its sheath. The blade was clean and unstained, like it was never used. Despite it being quite plain, Sakura felt immediately drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

"Is this yours, Sai?" she asked, turning towards her teammate who was picking up the paintings on the floor.

Sai looked up at the sound of his voice. He stared at the tanto for a few seconds before turning away.

"That belongs to Shin-nii-san," he murmured. "But he never got the chance to use it."

"Oh…" Sakura didn't know what to say as she glanced back down at the tanto.

"I might as well throw it away since he won't be here to use it."

Sakura's head snapped up at this. She stared at him in shock. What was he thinking to throw away such a beautiful sword? One that belonged to his brother no less. As soon as she was about to open her mouth to retort, a brilliant idea came to mind. Sakura was a bit skilled in using a tanto ever since she was made chuunin, same with Shikamaru and Ino. Perhaps she would be able to use that skill here. But compared to Sai, her tanto abilities would be considered as mediocre.

Her sea-green eyes shifted from the tanto to Sai. Her lips pursed. "Sai," Sakura called, grabbing his attention once again.

"What is it?"

"Please…teach me how to use a tanto."

Sai's hand stopped an inch away from his dusty painting. He stood up and turned towards her. Sakura stood there, clutching his brother's weapon against her chest. For a second there, Sai thought that it was Shin standing there looking at him and not Sakura. He never noticed until now but Sakura and his brother reminded him of each other. Both were kind-hearted, determined and always stood by his side.

His lips curved up to form a semi-real smile. "Alright, I accept," he responded.

Sakura's eyes lit up.

"But in return…"

The rosette stiffened slightly, slightly anxious on what he would say next.

"…you have to clean my apartment."

She wasn't thinking that he would help her and get nothing in return, was she?

After all, the place wasn't going to clean itself, now was it?

"Deal!"

And thus the training and cleaning began.

**-X-**

**Author's Note:**  
Heh! I think I'm losing my touch… -.- Please review! If you didn't like it don't bother flaming me 'cause I'll just ignore your flame. All you're doing is just wasting your time. About Shin, I'm not really sure if he's an ANBU Root operative like Sai, nor the fact if Sai was a part of Root ever since he was a child. I feel too lazy to check right now. Besides, this story is AU so it doesn't really matter anyway. Sorry if this chapter seemed a bit dull. I'll try and make the next one more interesting. Thanks for reading!

**-X-**

**The Pretty List:**_  
xXxJaycee81196xXx  
OkamiKunoichi21  
Oneblackened  
moonshine86  
Maxmoquito  
slykittymeowmeow  
Frenschel Boo  
MarzSpy  
Jensniffer  
tinkertailor  
SaiFanGrl_

Thanks for reviewing! :)

**-X-**

_-Setsuna_


	4. For Whom the Bells Toll: Part One

**Author's Note:**  
Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. The bell test is so long that I had to divide it up into two parts. Sorry for the inconvenience. Just keep in mind that although Sakura is an ANBU, she is still quite emotional, especially when it comes to her teammates. And to those that find it annoying how she keeps comparing Sai to Sasuke, don't worry. She'll being to stop as the story progresses onwards. One more thing, this little comparison is _not _a way to develop the romance between Sai and Sakura. In fact, I doubt that we'll be seeing any real romance until the Wave arc. Now that that's out of the way, enjoy the chapter.

**-X-**

**Chapter Four**_  
-__For Whom the Bells Toll-  
-Part One-_

**-X-**

The next morning marked the beginning of Kakashi's bell test and Sakura's Kenjutsu training with Sai. The kunoichi thought that this would all just be a piece of cake but how mistaken she was. Sai was clearly not going to make this for her. Whether this was getting back at her for all the beatings that she gave him or just for the hell of it, she didn't know. All she knew was that Sai was harsh when it came to training a person.

A _very _unlucky person…

"Your footing is incorrect," Sai pointed out flatly as he sat against the trunk of a tree; his eyes lazily watched Sakura and the ink clone he summoned spar with each other, using their tanto.

"W-wha-?" Sakura stumbled as Sai's remark momentarily distracted her.

The ink clone took this as a chance to swipe its tanto at her. Other than her tanto, Sakura had no other choice of defence so she hurriedly held up the weapon, just in time to block her opponent's tanto.

Beads of sweat rolled down her face as she glared hard at her opponent. Sai's clone just stared back at her blankly while applying more pressure onto the sword. Sakura gritted her teeth in annoyance.

_Remind me again why I decided to ask _him _for help, _she thought with a scowl.

"You're holding the tanto incorrectly," came the artist's dull voice.

Sakura snapped. Letting out a battle cry, she drove her chakra-infused fist into the clone's stomach. The ink clone's eyes bulged before it turned into splatters of black ink.

Sakura let out a grin of satisfaction. It was great that she still had her abilities from the future. This morning when she was getting dressed she noticed her ANBU tattoo was still displayed proudly on her arm. Sakura had a feeling that this was a sign that all her jutsu hadn't disappeared. But her chakra reserves were reverted back to what it was like when she was a genin. Although with the training that she was receiving from Sai, it won't be for long before her chakra and stamina returns to full strength.

"And may I ask what's wrong?" Sai asked, unsurprised by her earlier actions.

The grin on her face twisted into a frown. Although it would take time…_a lot_ of time from the way this was going.

"You're distracting me. I can't concentrate!" Sakura exclaimed loudly. "Are you trying to kill me?" She glared at the impassive male.

Sai remained unaffected. "In battle these sorts of things tend to happen. If you can't concentrate without being distracted, then you might as well give up on being a kunoichi. All you're doing is getting yourself killed," he stated seriously.

Sakura's mouth opened slightly in shock. Never once had she ever heard him speak to her in such a way. He sounded so…cruel and uncaring…like the Sasuke in her future. Her mouth closed firmly as her eyes looked up into his. But he was right. If she wasn't able to concentrate fully in battle, she would get herself killed.

Sakura wasn't about to let that happen. She turned her back towards Sai and faced her invisible opponent. Her eyes lit up in determination. After all, she still had to complete her mission. Sunlight glistened on the blade of the tanto. The blade of the sword gleamed dangerously.

She refused to die…not right now.

**-X-**

Coal-black eyes regarded the kunoichi coolly as she continued her training. Sai couldn't figure out why he had agreed to train her other than using her to clean his dusty apartment. He could always unknowingly charm an idiotic fan-girl into doing the job for him. It should be easy with his looks and all. If so, then why? Why was he so willing as to teach Sakura? Was it to return the favour of her always trying to teach him about emotions?

Keyword: _trying_.

After all, Sai wasn't really the best student. His lips pursed. But then again, neither was she, the artist mused as he watched her struggle with swinging the weapon.

At times like this her elegance rivalled an elephant's. He could tell that she was unconfident and unsure about how to use the weapon properly. But Sai knew that when she wanted to be, Sakura could be as graceful as a swan. He knew because he had always been watching her as she trained back in their time, even sketching pictures of her a couple of times too. She never knew, of course.

His lips twitched up slightly. Although Sai was unsure about his reasons for doing so, there was also something he was aware about.

He liked watching her.

Although, this does not mean that he had harbour any feelings for her. He was _emotionless_, after all. Despite this, Sai couldn't help but feel some mild admiration for her. He admired her for her determination and her loyalty to her teammates and friends.

He admired her…because she reminded him so much of his brother…

A string of curses emitted from the kunoichi brought him out of his thoughts. Sai looked up to see Sakura healing the small cut that she made on her left wrist.

"Damn it," Sakura muttered before resuming her stance.

Sai sighed softly. With just one look at her, he could tell that she was still not getting it. Her feet were placed way too far apart and she was gripping the tanto far too high up.

"Don't move," he ordered as he got up from the ground.

Sakura blinked. "Wha-?"

Suddenly, Sai's chest was pressed tightly against her back. His right hand reached over and grabbed a hold of hers.

Sakura's face lit up. "S-Sai, what are you-?"

"I said, don't move," the ANBU Root operative repeated, grabbing the tanto with his left hand and moved the hilt up so that Sakura was holding it lower than usual.

"This is where you're supposed to hold it. And to swing it…" His left hand grabbed a hold of her free hand and placed it over her right one. "…you do this." Sai guided her hands up and swiped the tanto up into the air.

"Think of the tanto as if it was a part of your own body."

Sakura wasn't even sure if she was listening. All she could think about was how close he was. She could feel his warm breath on her bare neck as he talked. Sakura sucked in a deep breath, beginning to feel slightly aroused by the slightly husky male scent that radiated off his body.

Damn her for putting her hair in a high ponytail today, leaving the back of her neck bare…

Then, something came to her. Sai was finished with his lesson, right? Then why wasn't he letting go? Why was he still holding onto her? But the real question was, _does_ she want him to let go?

"Sai, why ar-?"

"EHHHH!" a loud ear-piercing screamed cut her off.

Sakura turned her head to the right to see Naruto pointing an accusatory finger at them. Sasuke stood behind him with a slightly surprised expression on his face.

"What the hell are you doing, molesting _my _Sakura-chan?!" Naruto yelled.

Sai smirked before backing away from her, not bothering to reply. Sakura couldn't help but miss the warmth but didn't dwell on it further. Instead, she turned to face Naruto and gave him a hard stare.

"Since when was I yours?" she demanded, putting her tanto back into its sheath. "And Sai wasn't molesting me; he was helping me with Kenjutsu."

"For once the Hag's right," Sai remarked, then let out a smile. "Besides, someone must be really desperate if they wanted to molest someone as ugly as her."

Before he knew it, Sai found himself staring dazedly at the floor of the bridge with an aching cheek, thanks to the power of Sakura's fists.

Minus the chakra, of course.

**-X-**

"Alright, now that we're all here," Kakashi said, leading his impatient team towards the fields, "Let's begin the test, shall we?"

Naruto and Sakura fumed and muttered curses under their breaths at the tardiness of their jounin instructor as they followed him. Kakashi had kept them all waiting for three long hours and when he finally showed up his excuse was, "Sorry I'm late. I had to help an old lady cross the street".

I mean, how lame was that…?

Kakashi reached into his pocket and pulled out two bells. He jingled them in front of their eyes. "Here's your task. You'll have until noon to retrieve these bells. If you don't get them you'll be tied to the stumps over there."

He gestured towards it with his thumb.

"And will be forced to watch as I eat lunch right in front of you. I'm sure you guys didn't have breakfast this morning, am I right?"

As if on cue all their stomachs growled. Sakura blushed, placing a hand on her flat stomach. She was so excited about her training yesterday that she didn't even get the chance to get anything to eat.

"Why are there only two bells?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi smiled. "That's because only two of you will pass," he told. "And there's more. Those who do not manage to retrieve a bell will be sent straight back to the academy. No arguments allowed."

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened at this information.

"I see…" Sai murmured. _This must be the teamwork test that Sakura told me about._

Kakashi's lone eyes scanned across his four students. He could tell that Naruto and Sasuke were startled by the idea of having to get sent back to the academy. His eye then shifted towards Sai and Sakura. Sakura seemed to be deep in thought while Sai just remained as impassive as ever. His eyes hardened. This was the perfect time to test the boy's abilities. If he was stronger than the average genin then there was no doubt that he was apart of ANBU Root. If that was the case, he would have to demand the Hokage for some answers. Hopefully then Sandaime-sama would allow him to send Sai to Morino Ibiki for some interrogation…

Kakashi shook his head slightly. Now wasn't the time to think about this. Right now, he had a test to hold.

"Now then," he started. "Get ready."

The four got into a defensive stance.

"Start!"

With that, the genins all disappeared in the blink of an eye into the forest.

**-X-**

Sakura couldn't help but sigh exasperatedly as her sea-green eyes watched as Naruto dangled helplessly, on a rope tied to a tree. As expected of Naruto to get caught in such an obvious trap planted by their jounin instructor.

_I should help him out, _she thought, knowing that this test was all about teamwork.

Maybe she would even be able to convince the three (Naruto, Sasuke and Sai) to work together and overthrow their lazy porn-reading sensei.

Sakura stepped out of her hiding place. "Need help, Naruto?" she asked with a slightly bored expression on her face.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto's face lit up, feeling embarrassed about his current position, and in front of the girl of his dreams, no less.

But nevertheless, the blonde ceased his struggles and nodded.

Hand reaching behind her back, Sakura unsheathed her tanto and jumped up. With just one simple swipe she was able to cut the rope and free the hyperactive blonde.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, untying the rope around his feet.

As soon as he stood up and stretched, his sapphire-blue eyes were immediately drawn towards the weapon in Sakura's hands. The bell attached to the tanto chimed, instantly capturing his full attention.

"Where'd you get that sword?" he asked curiously.

As far as he knew, Sakura had never carried such a beautiful weapon before. _Someone must have given it to her,_ he thought. _But who?_

"Oh, this?" Sakura's eyes drifted towards her tanto. "I got it from Sai," she replied with a shrug.

…

…

…

…

"EHHHH?!" Naruto's screech rang through the forest clearing. "Y-y-you got it from t-that asshole?!"

Sakura covered her ears in annoyance. "Yes, I did," she growled out. "You got a problem with that?"

"B-b-but why are you hanging out with a bastard like him?!" Naruto demanded, ignoring her question. "Are you and him…?" He paused and his face twisted into an expression of disbelief.

"Stop getting ideas. We are not together!" Sakura exclaimed, giving the blonde a hard glare. "Sai is just my…" Her voice started to trail off.

Who was Sai to her anyway?

The guy that had made fun of her and got away with it alive every single time.

The guy who would always seek her for advice in socialization and emotions.

The one person that had the patience to listen to what she had to say and occasionally allowed her to vent her frustration on…

Sakura's lips twitched up slightly and then spoke in a calmer voice. "There's nothing wrong with me being with him. Sai is my teammate and also my…friend," she said truthfully.

After all, she and Sai, despite all the name-calling and insult, do get along really well together. She had gotten out of a lot of tough situations in the past, or future as you might say, thanks to the ANBU Root operative.

"Yeah, anyway, I'm going to look for Kakashi-sensei." Naruto waved as he proceeded towards the forest.

"Hold it!" Sakura shouted, grabbing a hold of his collar.

"S-Sakura-chan!" Naruto choked. "W-what are you doing?!"

Sakura let go of the blonde and placed a hand on her hip. "Do you even understand the whole idea behind this test?" she asked annoyed.

Naruto blinked. "Wha…?" he asked, completely clueless.

Sakura held back an exasperated sigh. "Why do you think he only has two bells and not four?" she asked.

Naruto scratched his head in thought. "Uhh…"

This time Sakura did sigh. _He's hopeless, _she thought.

"Teamwork, you idiot!" she stated loudly. "The purpose of this test is not for us to fight each other for the bell but to work together and overthrow our sensei. A genin alone wouldn't be enough to defeat a full-fledged jounin, but when three or four of them team up together they might have a chance."

Naruto's eyes widened in realization. "I see!" he exclaimed. "…So, what are we going to do?"

Sakura slapped her forehead. Naruto was definitely hopeless…

"We'll look for Sasuke and Sai," she stated and made her way into the forest, without bothering to wait for the blonde.

Neither of them noticed the lack of the usual affectionate honorific on a certain someone's name.

**-X-**

Sai walked through the forest cautiously in signs of his opponent. Although he was sure that he was able to fight on an equal level with Kakashi, it doesn't hurt to be extra cautious. Besides, Sai had a feeling that Kakashi was suspicious of him, even without Sakura's confirmation. But he wasn't worried about this fact. Nor was he concerned about the true meaning of the test. Teamwork; he already knew. But he didn't care.

What he was more anxious about was Danzou and the rest of the ANBU Root operatives.

Suddenly the rustling of leaves caught his attention. On instincts, he immediately threw a kunai at the bush. A squirrel squealed in fright and ran away.

Sai's shoulders slumped slightly. He was getting too easily distracted these days. Then a flare of chakra appeared before him. Sai's eyes stared blankly ahead as a turf of silver hair was seen in the large puff of grey smoke.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted lazily, as he leaned his back against the tree.

Sai stared for a while before giving off his trademark smile. "Hello, Kakashi-senpai."

And thus the battle began.

**-X-**

Sakura felt like crying really, _really_ badly. She just couldn't keep it in any longer. It was never this funny back then but right now, seeing Uchiha Sasuke buried in the ground with just his head visible was enough to bring tears of laughter to her eyes.

She bit her cheeks.

Twitch.

Snort.

Sasuke glared.

Sakura tried to muffle her laughter…and failed miserably.

"Hahaha!"

The sound of her laughter reached Naruto's ears as he drew closer towards Sakura's location. "What's the matter, Sakura-chan?" he asked, curiously.

Sakura could only point towards Sasuke's head, unable to find her voice from all that laughing.

Naruto blinked…

Sasuke twitched again…

Sakura continued laughing her ass off…

…

…

…

…

…

"HAHAHA!" Naruto burst out in fits of laughter. "Sasuke's head –haha– is without –hahaha– a body!"

"Quit laughing, dobe," Sasuke growled out. "Hurry up and dig me out."

Sakura chuckled before pushing Naruto back. "Stand back, Naruto," she said, finally calming down.

Naruto snickered before backing away, curious as to what Sakura was going to do.

Sakura took in a deep breath and focused a very small amount of chakra into her fist and lightly punched the ground. Mini-fissures appeared on the ground around the Uchiha's buried body. Sasuke could feel that the ground's hold on him loosened and escaped from the ground.

"Woah, that was awesome, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed with widened eyes.

Sakura chuckled nervously. _If he thought that was awesome wait till he sees my full strength, _she thought.

Sasuke remained silent as he brushed the dirt off his clothes. His onyx coloured orbs shifted towards the rosette kunoichi's figure. His eyes hardened with suspicion. How was she able to do that? First the glaring, then the Shunshin no Jutsu, and now _this_? Just who was she anyway? She was definitely not the Haruno Sakura that he knew.

"Yeah, anyway, I've got a plan we can use to overthrow Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said.

Sasuke eye's narrowed. "I'm not working with you or the dobe," he told firmly.

Sakura's eye twitched. "Listen here you-" she growled but got rudely cut off when the Uchiha avenger began to walk off.

"You'll only get in my way."

That did it.

Sasuke suddenly found himself immobilized as a slender hand grabbed a hold of his wrist. He turned around and glared at the female, whose eyes were shadowed by her hair.

"Let go," he commanded.

Sakura looked up and Sasuke was met with the sight of sea-green eyes filled with anger and annoyance. She couldn't have felt more annoyed in her life. The feeling of when Sai called her Hag or when Naruto annoyed the hell out of her couldn't even be compared to the emotions that she was feeling now. Were all Uchihas this stubborn and arrogant? This was so frustrating. Here she was, trying to get him to work as a team but his stupid Uchiha pride was constantly getting in the way. Sakura resisted the urge to smash his head towards the ground.

"I'm not going to work with you and that's final." Sasuke glared. "You're too weak."

Before he knew it, he was met with a punch in the face that sent him sprawled out on the ground.

"Fine!" Sakura yelled. "Do whatever the hell you want!"

With that, the rosette haired kunoichi stormed off into the depths of the forest.

It was silent for a few seconds. The only sound that was present was the rustling of leaves against the breezy wind. Naruto shifted around uncomfortably and gave the genin on the ground an almost pitying look.

"Smooth, teme…real smooth…"

"…Shut up, dobe."

No one noticed a figure watching from the shadows. The person shook his head in what seemed like disappointment.

This was going to be a _long _test.

**-X-**

Hatake Kakashi was known to be Konoha's Copy Ninja, a shinobi known to have mastered over thousands of jutsu. One of Konoha's ex-ANBU captain and now known to be jounin sensei of four cute, _innocent_ little genins. Genins who have just graduated from the academy and should have no knowledge whatsoever about advance ninjutsu.

So why was he, Hatake Kakashi, one of Konoha's most skilled shinobi, kneeling on one of his knee, _panting _slightly from his little battle with a black haired _genin_.

"_Haha, you're old age is probably getting the best __of you!"_ the familiar voice of a sadistic purple haired woman rang through his head.

The masked jounin frowned. He wasn't _that _old…was he? Was twenty-five considered as old? Kakashi shook his head. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about such a thing. His gaze shifted toward Sai, who was on one of his ink birds.

Kakashi's eyes hardened. A genin should not be able to use such a technique that uses so much time to set up. But to Sai, it only took him a few seconds to draw out his ink summons. He was skilled, that was for sure and the jounin had a feeling that this was not Sai's true power.

But then again, Kakashi wasn't exactly fighting at full power either. If this continues any longer he might even be forced to use his Sharingan. But doing so would mean that he had admitted defeat to a genin, who was _supposed _to be weaker than him. Only sheer pride kept him from using his kekkei genkai.

"Well, I'm impressed," Kakashi remarked. "No genin has ever been able to keep up with me for so long."

Sai gave him a fake smile. "You're pretty strong yourself, Kakashi-senpai."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at this. _Senpai? _He wondered but shook the thought away as Sai began drawing on his scroll.

"Ninpou: Choujuu Giga," Sai murmured, sending out his ink tigers.

As soon as the beast painting neared, Kakashi lashed out his fist, gripping a kunai and destroyed the tiger with one easy hit. He discovered that, although Sai's Choujuu Giga was a bunch of formidable opponents, they can be easily destroyed with just one hit. Kakashi used this to his advantage as he delivered his attacks.

Once the last tiger was destroyed the masked shinobi's hands flew through a series of hand-signs.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" A huge ball of fire shot up towards the ink bird that Sai was currently standing on.

Sai's eyes widened slightly before he jumped down to avoid the jutsu. The ink bird was engulfed in a sea of flames as soon as his feet touched the ground. Without wasting anymore time, Sai unsheathed his tanto and ran towards Kakashi, who stared at him with an impassive look.

A gloved hand holding a kunai lashed up and intercepted the tanto. The sound of metallic clashes was heard throughout the forest. Sai jumped back and unrolled another scroll. His brush whipped across the paper at a tremendous speed. What would you expect from such an experienced artist? All these years of training and drawing had made Sai into a shinobi who was capable of conjuring up twenty ink summons in just ten seconds.

Kakashi's eyes widened. He never expected him to be able to prepare such a complicated jutsu in just such short amount of time. He knew that Sai was skilled but this was just really pushing it. His skill, his gestures, his attitude all just proves this fact to be correct.

Sai had to be an ANBU Root operative.

Sai watched with a blank expression as three of his ink tigers sunk their claws into his Kakashi's body. Immediately upon impact, Kakashi was replaced with a log. The ink-user's lips pursed. As expected of Konoha's number one jounin. No hand-signs, too.

Sai's coal-black eyes searched the forest for any signs of the jounin. _He doesn't appear to be around or above… _Sai looked up. Suddenly his eyes lit up in realization. _Then he has to be-!_

Before the ink-user could jump up, a gloved hand reached up from underground and pulled him down.

Sai grunted and gave the masked jounin a hard emotionless stare. Thanks to Kakashi, his whole body was buried underground, except for the head. Sai tried to move but the ground's hold was just too strong. He inwardly sighed. At times like this he wished that he had Sakura's brute strength. If she found him in a position such as this then she would never let him live it down. Sai could already image her standing over his head, laughing her head off while his was still without a body. The ANBU Root operative cringed slightly.

He would not let that happen.

Sai liked to be the one in control. It would be much better if she was the one stuck underground and he was the one who would get to make all the insults and, even better, not get a beating for it. Huh, well what do you know? There was another good reason for that, the artist mused.

But as long as he was stuck like this, Sai might as well kiss that sweet fantasy of dominance goodbye. Just as long as she doesn't show up then everything will be fine, Sai though.

"Shinobi Tactics Three: Ninjutsu. Looks like you feel for it quite easily," Kakashi remarked grinning as he squatted down, almost to Sai's eye level. "Well at least you kept me at my toes longer than Sasuke did."

Sai gave him a fake smile. "Well of course, you don't expect a Gutless Little Homo like him to be on the same wavelength as me, do you?"

Kakashi chuckled slightly at the nickname.

Then, the sound of the alarm clock rang through the training grounds, signalling the end of the test.

"Well then, I guess that's over," Kakashi stated, standing up. His hands formed a quick seal. "Kai."

As soon as the release command was given Sai felt the ground around him soften. Without wasting anymore time he freed himself from the jutsu and climbed out of the ground.

"Let's head back," Kakashi said, beginning to walk towards the clearing of the forest.

Sai followed behind silently.

_Hm, I wonder if Sakura had ran into my Kage Bunshin yet, _Kakashi mused.

This was turning out to be a really interesting day.

**-X-**

**Author's Note:**  
Thanks for reading. Hope it wasn't too boring for you. Hopefully my updates will be more frequent now that school is officially over. It won't be for another two months before I return back to school. :) I apologize for any OOCness from Sai and Sakura. I'll try and keep them in character as much as possible. Please review! Flames are not accepted. Until then, see you in the next chapter!

**-X-**

**The Pretty List:**_  
Oneblackened  
Maxmoquito  
xXxJaycee81196xXx  
SasoLOVE111  
SleepyGirl  
Sasuke Uchiha 7  
OkamiKunoichi21  
Miss Chocolat  
SasuSakuFan4ever789  
MarzSpy  
yunaza.  
slykittymeowmeow  
Aprilia-is-me  
Frenschel Boo  
YoshiFurbyPhoenixGirl257  
moonshine86  
sakuraxgaara2233  
Emily Le Fay  
Treason for Love  
DarkLillyOfTheNight96  
Hebi R.  
writingmaniac  
SB01  
LadyDream3512  
shadow-binder  
Neko4  
Haru Itonami  
nayuta  
Lady Falairios  
Nagasasu  
angel897  
crazikido2_

Thank you for reviewing, especially you, _Lady Falairios_. I'll keep in mind about what you said. Thanks again! :)

**-X-**

_-Setsuna_


	5. For Whom the Bells Toll: Part Two

**Author's Note:**  
Yes, I'm alive and back with another chapter! Sorry it took so long to get this one out. Two reasons, one; writer's block and two; school. But now it's finally out. Hope you enjoy! But before we begin I would I like to point something out. Although Sakura is eighteen from the future and is supposed to be a mature kunoichi who doesn't allow emotions to get in the way, she is going to get quite emotion in this story, especially when it comes to Sasuke. I mean, come on! She hasn't seen the guy in ages since their last encounter. Most likely she'll have a lot of feelings that need to be released and seeing genin Sasuke has blinded her. All she can think about is the Sasuke in her future who has caused others, namely her and Naruto, so much pain and she's taking all her anger out on genin Sasuke, something that she can't do to future Sasuke. So, I apologize if some of you don't agree that this is how Sakura should act but this is my story and I'm sticking to it. If it makes you feel any better, they (Sasuke and Sakura) will eventually get along…not in a romantic way, of course. This fanfic is purely SaiSaku. :) Sorry for the long Author's Note (do any of you even read these things?). Here's chapter five.

**-X-**

**Chapter Five**_  
-For Whom the Bells Toll-  
-Part Two-_

**-X-**

A small part of Sakura felt guilty for the treatment that she was constantly giving her Uchiha teammate these days, but another part, the more stubborn part, of her refused to admit that she was wrong. But Sakura knew that right now, she did not have the right to blame Sasuke at all. The boy had just graduated from the academy yesterday. He hadn't even been on a mission yet, therefore he hadn't killed anyone…_yet_.

Sakura's eyes darkened. It was true that he hadn't destroyed a single life yet, but still, she couldn't bring herself to forgive him for what his future self had done. The more she looked at him, the more she was reminded about how distant and cold he had gotten from the team. His existence now reminded her painfully of how useless she was back then. Neither she nor Naruto could save him from the pools of darkness that was lurking around in his heart.

She hated that.

Sakura hated how weak she was back there at Orochimaru's lair, unable to do anything when Naruto, Sai and Yamato fought for their lives against him. All could do was watch.

Sakura gritted her teeth tightly. She never wanted to go through that again. This time around, she was going to stop Sasuke from leaving the village, stop him from getting the curse mark and stop him from becoming the person that he would be in the future.

But that would never stop her from hating his stupid Uchiha pride.

Suddenly, the sound of rustling leaves caught her attention. Sakura had just enough time to leap away before two sharp kunai lodged themselves onto the ground in which she had stood a few seconds ago.

Sakura unsheathed the tanto that Sai gave her and held it out in front of her protectively; her eyes scanned the surroundings for her opponent.

_Kakashi-sensei, huh? _She thought, as she picked up his chakra signature, which was cleverly masked.

All that training in ANBU and with Tsunade had heightened her five senses. She found this to be very useful in battle. But still, she was not sure if she would be able to fight par on with Kakashi. Back in her time, Kakashi and her rarely conversed at all, with Sakura busy with ANBU training with Sai and Kakashi either occupied by Naruto's training or his perverted books.

So they had never gotten the chance to spar with each other.

Her sea-green eyes surveyed the small area covered with trees and bushes. With an environment like this, it was easy for a shinobi to camouflage with nature, especially for such a skilled shinobi, like Kakashi.

"Come on out, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura's grip on her tanto tightened. "I know that it's you."

From up in a large tree, a smile formed from beneath his mask. This little kunoichi…might just be quite the challenge.

Deciding that he had enough of hide and seek, Kakashi leaped down onto the ground. His hand reached into his pouch and produced an orange book. His lone grey eye began scanning across the contents of the page, although his attention was still fully directed upon the rosette kunoichi.

"Well, I'm impressed," he remarked. "What gave it away that it was me?"

Sakura smiled. "There's no one else in this field that would attack me besides you, Kakashi-sensei," she answered his question.

"Hm, is that so?"

Then he disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Sakura gasped and her eyes widened a fraction. That was so fast. Suddenly, her body lurched forward from a sudden impact from behind. Kakashi plunged a kunai into her back, not even blinking when the Sakura in front of him was replaced with a log. Sensing a presence from behind, the jounin ducked just in to avoid a round kick, delivered by the pink haired kunoichi. Sakura gritted her teeth and pull her fist back for a powerful punch. Kakashi dodged and instead, the tree behind him got a taste of her chakra-infused punch. The attack made a clean hole right through the trunk.

_Phew! _Beads of cold sweat ran down Kakashi's masked face. _That was close…_

The fight soon turned into a pure Taijutsu match, with Sakura launching attacks and Kakashi just dodging, occasionally with slight difficulty.

Weariness began to show on Sakura's face. She panted slightly. It seemed like her stamina was still not up to full power yet, seeing as how she still gets tired way too easily, although her reserves were still better than how she was when she was still a genin. Her shoulders slumped from fatigue. This battle could take a while.

Seeing an opening, Kakashi's foot lashed out in a powerful side kick, sending a stunned kunoichi towards a tree.

"Shinobi Tactics One: Taijutsu," Kakashi's voice came. "And also, never let your guard down."

Her back made a powerful impact on the trunk. Sakura gasped for breath. The blow had momentarily knocked the air right out of her. Small splinters were stuck in her back from the impact making Sakura wince in pain. An injured back was not something that can be cured easily. She would need some help to get the splinters out after this test.

With some difficulty, she got up and opened her eyes, only to find no one in front of her. Sakura gritted her teeth. This was beginning to get too troublesome.

_Great, I'm starting to sound more and more like Shikamaru each day, _Sakura thought grumbling.

A few feet behind her, Kakashi smiled from his place up on a strong tree branch. _Hm, not bad at all, _he thought, closing his eyes.

Then his hands formed the Snake seal and then shifted into the Rat seal. "Narakumi no Jutsu," he murmured.

Suddenly, Sakura vision blurred. Closing her eyes, Sakura shook her head. _What's happening? _She wondered.

Forest-green leaves began swirled around her.

"This is…" Sakura started, beginning to lose a bit of her consciousness. "G-gen…jutsu…" Her hand reached up, ready to form the sign to dispel the incoming illusion.

"Ka-!"

"S-Sakura-chan," a voice stopped her cold.

The said girl's head slowly turned and was barely able to muffle the scream that rose from deep within her throat.

"N-Na-Naruto…" she managed to choke out.

Bile rose in her throat but she forced it back down. Leaning against the other side of the tree was Naruto. But instead of him being twelve, he was in his seventeen year old body. The usual black and orange jacket that he wore was all cut up in random places, allowing crimson-red blood to leak through the fabric freely.

But what scared Sakura so much were not the many injuries that her blonde teammate had obtained. That would all heal over time. Her attention was directed more towards his face, or more specifically, his eyes.

His blood-red, fox-shaped eyes.

Swallowing the lump that had begun to form in her throat, Sakura forced herself to look into Naruto's…no, the Kyuubi's eyes.

_This is just like last time, _the medic-nin though with widened eyes.

Staring into the Kitsune's eyes had reminded Sakura painfully of the mission that Team Kakashi had took a year just before her ANBU exam. She was a jounin, Sai and Yamato were still an ANBU, Kakashi remained jounin, and Naruto was a chuunin, not being able to find time to take the jounin exams with Sakura, although he was jounin material.

Tsunade had given Team Kakashi a mission to Kusagakure to find a special herb that was a remedy for a recently discovered poison. Although this mission may not have seemed difficult, the territory of Kusagakure was dangerous to be in. Konohagakure had never formed an alliance with Kusagakure because of the Kusa-nins loath towards Konoha back in the third war. Normally, Tsunade would send only two jounins to gather the herb but since Naruto had heard that it was Hinata that had been poisoned, he immediately volunteered to be in the mission.

He had finally realized his feelings for the ex-heiress after so many years of knowing her. They had been together for months now. At first, Hinata's father, Hyuuga Hiashi was furious to the idea of his daughter being romantically involved with someone like him but after much convincing from his daughter, he finally gave in, seeing how much Hinata loved him and how Naruto was so willing to protect his daughter with his life.

Knowing that the blonde was adamant on going on this mission, Tsunade had no choice but to give in. So she assigned Kakashi, Yamato, Sakura and Sai on this mission as well to keep Naruto in control and make sure he does not perform any rash decisions that will get him killed.

Good thing she did, too…

The team had set out to Kusagakure the very next day. The journey itself was smooth the whole way – surprisingly enough, they never encountered a single shinobi on the first half of their journey. As soon as Team Kakashi made it in the village they came in contact with some Kusa-nins. Yamato and Sai had stayed behind to fight them off, while Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura continued towards their destination. What they had found waiting there was not just the herb but also a very familiar face among the newly arrived group of four. Sakura could still remember that day as if it had happened yesterday.

**-X-**

"_Sa-Sasuke…" Naruto choked out as he stared at the face of his former best friend. "W-what are you doing here?"_

_Sasuke just stared at him blankly._

_Sakura clenched her fist in front of her chest worriedly. Her sea-green eyes glanced from Naruto to Sasuke and then at the former. _

"_Naruto…" she whispered, worried about her teammate. _

_She knew that every mission that they went on had a chance of encountering their ex-teammate but still, Sakura had feared this day ever since their last encounter at Orochimaru's base. She was afraid – not for herself but for Naruto. There was no doubt that this mission would end in Naruto and her getting emotionally wounded._

_A snort from the kunoichi on Sasuke's team had snapped her out of her thoughts. Sakura turned her attention towards the female. She had ruby-red eyes, which was framed by a pair of brown glasses, and bright-red coloured hair that was in an unusual style. On the right, it was short and unkempt but on the left it was long and straight. If Sakura remembered correctly from her research, her name was Karin, one of the jailers at Orochimaru's base. She had the ability to track people using their chakra and could heal by letting others bite her. No doubt that she was chosen because of her ability and not her personality, Sakura mused bitterly._

"_Who are these guys suppose to be. You recognize them, Sasuke?" Karin asked impatiently._

_Sasuke closed his eyes and turned his back towards Team Kakashi. "Hn, they're unimportant," he stated bluntly. "We're wasting our time here. Let's go."_

_Before Sasuke was able to walk another step away, he was stopped by Kakashi's voice. _

"_You don't expect us to let you walk away from us, now do you?" Kakashi said, speaking up for the first time. He lifted up his hitai-ate to reveal his lone Sharingan._

"_Oho, getting serious, are we?" the fish-like being of Sasuke's team spoke up. He had snow-white coloured hair along with a pair of purple eyes. But the most noticeable feature of him was the large sword strapped across his back. "It's been a while since I've had some action." His hand reached back to grab Zabuza's large sword._

"_Stop it, Suigetsu. You heard what Sasuke said. There's no need to waste our time fighting them," the orange haired male, with a matching pair of orange eyes, stated. His face was calm but Sakura could see his hands twitch from time to time and the sound of his voice sounded slightly strained. _

_Karin crossed her arms and snorted. "Just let him fight, Juugo. He might even do us a favour and get himself killed," she said haughtily._

_Suigetsu glared. "What was that, bitch?!" he growled._

"_You heard me…and who you calling bitch?!" Karin leered at the fish-like shinobi from behind her brown-rimmed glasses._

_Sakura didn't know whether to laugh or to feel annoyed at the fact that they have now completely ignored her team. Seeing those two argue made her feel slightly nostalgic. They reminded her painfully of how she and Naruto used to argue. Although it seemed that those two were much worse._

"_I see you've found yourself a lively bunch of teammates," Kakashi commented dryly. "Are you sure they won't get in your way?"_

"_They're adequate for my purpose," came the Uchiha's cold tone._

_Sakura clenched her fists in anger. "And we were not?" she bit out. Her eyes lit up in frustration when Sasuke didn't even spare her a glance, nor answer her question._

"_And your purpose would be…? If I recall, Uchiha Itachi is already dead. What more do you have in mind?" Kakashi inquired._

_Sasuke didn't answer._

"_Sasuke, I'm giving you one last chance," Naruto spoke up with his teeth gritted together tightly. "Come back with me to Konoha."_

_Kakashi stared at the blonde from the corner of his eyes. He could already tell that it was a matter of time before Naruto would lose control of his emotions. The jounin could already see his specks of red in his eyes. _

If the Kyuubi was unleashed at a time like this, then there will be trouble,_ Kakashi thought as his eyes hardened. _Yamato and Sai still aren't back yet.

"…_Konoha, huh?" _

_He returned his attention back towards his former student._

"_You expect me to walk back in there after what _they've _done?" The Uchiha's voice was calm but no one missed that anger that was hidden beneath his tone. "After what _they've _put Itachi through?"_

What is he talking about? _Sakura wondered._

"_If I ever do return to that village, there's only reason for doing so…" Sasuke paused for a second. Then, his eyes shot up to reveal a pair of Sharingan eyes. "…and that's to destroy it!"_

_Naruto saw red. Before anyone could move as much as an inch forward, the blonde shot forward in a burst energy and streaked towards the Uchiha, who had his hand on his Kusanagi, ready to attack. Sakura shielded her eyes from the rubble that rose from the ground due to Naruto's quick action. _

"Never close your eyes in front of an enemy." _Tsunade's voice reminded her. _

_But was Sasuke an enemy? Uchiha Sasuke was known to be a huge threat to everyone. He was a criminal and a traitor of Konohagakure, who recently was labelled as an A-ranked criminal in the Bingo Book. She knew that she was being selfish but Sakura refused to accept the fact that he was no longer the person that she knew when they were genin. He had changed too much in these past few years of his absence but Sakura still wanted to believe that the Sasuke that both she and Naruto yearned for was still in there somewhere, buried within the darkness. _

And I will bring him out of it, _Sakura thought determinedly. _

_She brought her arms down and jumped away just in time to avoid a large sword that swiped the place of where her head had been a few seconds ago._

"_Che, I missed," Suigetsu said smirking. "But you won't be so lucky next time, Pinky."_

_Sakura twitched. "What did you call me?" she growled._

_Oh, how she hated that nickname. It was even worse than 'Ugly' and 'Hag' combined. It wasn't her fault that she was born with naturally pink hair and that her mother refused to allow her to dye it. It seemed that most enemies that she encountered would judge her by her hair colour. _

_It pissed her off._

_Suigetsu chuckled. "Are you sure that someone as pretty and delicate as you should be allowed on the battlefield?" he asked, ignoring her question._

Was that supposed to be a compliment or an insult? _Sakura thought as she glared at the light haired shinobi. _

_Pulling out a couple of kunai, she threw them towards the fish-like male and watched in confusion when Suigetsu remained still with a grin on his face._

He's going to get hit… So why is he just standing there? _She wondered. _

_Her eyes narrowed when the kunai passed through his body harmlessly and dropped towards the ground, coated in water. The wound on Suigetsu's body began to close up like liquid._

I see…so he can liquefy his body to avoid damage, _Sakura thought, getting into a defensive stance. _Since his body's made up of water, lightning or earth style jutsu would work best on him.

_Her gaze drifted to her right to see Kakashi engaged in a fierce battle with Juugo, who had his curse mark activated to the final stage. Kakashi would normally be the best choice to battle against Suigetsu but it seemed like he was already occupied as it was. Besides, even thought if Kakashi was not engaged in battle she would__n't count on him to bail her out. Sakura swore to herself that she would never rely on others anymore. She would not be a burden to them._

_The sound of a kunai swishing in the air alerted her attention. Sakura tilted her head to the right to evade the weapon. A stinging sensation told her that the blade had grazed the side of her cheek but she ignored the cut. Her sea-green eyes glance at the kunai on the ground._

_Attached to it was an exploding tag._

_Sakura's eyes widened a fraction. It was too late to move away. "Oh, shit!" she swore._

_The sound of an explosion could be heard from a mile away._

"_Sakura!" Kakashi called before throwing his arms up to block an incoming punch from Juugo._

_Sakura gasped and coughed as she got from the ground, staggering in the process. She didn't know how but she managed to make it in time. As soon as the explosion was set off Sakura punched to ground, causing the earth to rise up, shielding herself from any incoming damage. Of course, she didn't come out unharmed. The ends of her hair and parts of her skirt were singed slightly and her entire body was covered_ _in mild scratches but at least she made it out alive._

"_G__ah! What's wrong with you, Karin? Can't you even hit someone who was distracted?!" Suigetsu scowled at the red-head, who in return sneered at him._

"_Well if I recall your aim with your oversized sword was off, too. Are you sure you have what it takes to wield that large-ass weapon?" Karin glared at him through her glasses._

"_Oh, yeah? I'll show how a real man fights! I'll take Pinky here down before you do!" With that, Suigetsu charged at Sakura with his sword raised._

"_Hmph! I'll get her before your sword reaches her!" Karin threw another exploding tag attached kunai at the pink haired kunoichi._

_But before it came in contact with Sakura, the kunai got intercepted by Suigetsu's body, who, at the same time, was heading towards the kunoichi. The exploding tag exploded, sending showers of water everywhere._

_A few seconds later Suigetsu emerged from a puddle, coughing harshly. He gave Karin a death glare. "Now look what you've fucking done, bitch!" he seethed. "I was this close to killing her!"_

_Karin tilted her glasses up. "My weapon would have made it if it wasn't for your fatass body getting in the way!" she retorted._

"_Wench!"_

"_Jackass!"_

Uhh… _Sakura looked on bewildered. It looked as if they were more interested in fighting each other._

_Suddenly a roar of pain was emitted from her blonde teammate. Sakura turned her head around to see Naruto on the ground writhing in pain while Sasuke stood over him emotionlessly with his whole body covered in Chidori. _

"_Naruto!" Sakura cried, running off towards her teammate. _

_Karin and Suigetsu were still too busy punching and pulling each others hair out to notice the fleeing kunoichi._

_Sakura could hear Kakashi curse before yelling at her to stop but she paid no heed to his words. Naruto needed her. A sudden burst of chakra from Naruto stopped her in her tracks. She shielded her eyes from the energy force. Only after a few seconds did she look up and the sight before made her gasp. Naruto was motionless on the floor but Sakura could see red chakra beginning to cover up his entire body. _

The Demon Fox Cloak, _Sakura thought, recalling the time where Naruto had unleashed the Kyuubi at the Tenchikyou Bridge. It was something that she'd wished to forget but knew that she would not be able to do so._

_Her gaze drifted towards Sasuke, who had his Kusanagi held upwards. Sakura's eyes widened. He was not thinking of killing Naruto, was he? Nevertheless, Sakura ran forward. Never in her life had she imagined herself protecting Naruto against Sasuke, of all people. But, she must, no…she _will _protect Naruto, even if it costs her her life._

"_Naruto!" she cried, grabbing the Jinchuuriki into an embrace. _

_The chakra radiating off of his body burned painfully onto her skin but she ignored the pain. The pain that she was feeling at the moment can not even be compared to the pain that she would feel if she was to fail in protecting him. With her back towards Sasuke, she closed her eyes and waiting for the impact. No doubt that she would not be able to make it out alive, but…at least Naruto would be safe. _

_Sakura smiled slightly at the thought. At least she was finally able to do something for him… _

"_Sakura!" the sound of a familiar voice snapped her out of her thoughts._

_Before the chokutou was able to connect with Sakura's body, Sai managed to halt the attack by grabbing onto Sasuke's wrist, like he did back at Orochimaru's hideout, to stop his attack. Sai gave Sasuke a hard stare but was careful enough to not look into his eyes._

"_You again?" _

_Crunching sounds could be heard a second later. Sasuke looked down at his body to see wood wrapped strongly around his body, immobilizing him._

_A roar from Naruto alerted everyone's attention. The red chakra had consumed his body and the first tail had sprouted out. With a yelp, Sakura released Naruto and fell down towards the ground._

_Seeing her in pain, Sai quickly released his hold on Sasuke, knowing that Yamato would keep him still, and rushed towards her side._

"_Sakura, are you alright?" he asked, helping her into a sitting position on the forest floor. _

_Sakura couldn't respond. She lifted her hands up shakily and stared at her raw, burnt palms before gazing down at the rest of her body. It was in no shape better. The Kyuubi's chakra had burnt off most of her shirt, revealing a lot of skin. If it wasn't for a situation such as this, Sakura would have blushed at the thought of being half-naked in front of a bunch of males. She pressed her hands against her chest and began healing the burnt skin. She wasn't surprised at all when she found out that it took longer to heal than other wounds._

_Sai watched in silence as she began healing herself. His coal-black eyes then drifted towards Naruto._

"_Yamato-taichou," he called._

_Yamato nodded and diverted attention from Sasuke to the Jinchuuriki and began doing the hand signs for the sealing jutsu._

That should do it, _Yamato thought as he watched as the Kyuubi's chakra slowly disperse._

"_Chidori Nagashi!"_

_Yamato turned at the sound of the voice, just in time to see Sasuke's body covered in currents of electricity. The force of the powerful lightning based attack cut through the wood around his body as if it was made of butter. _

"_Sa-Sasuke…" Naruto rasped out as he lifted his head up tiredly._

_Without even sparing Naruto a glance, Sasuke walked towards his two bickering teammates. _

"_Karin, Suigetsu, we're leaving," he stated bluntly. _

_The two members of Taka ceased their arguing and nodded. A few seconds later, Juugo joined them. The tall shinobi was clutching his bleeding left arm, which had been severed by Kakashi's Raikiri. Despite the severity of his own injury, Juugo was more concerned about their leader rather than himself._

"_Are you alright, Sasuke?" he asked._

_Sasuke nodded his head in confirmation. "Let's go," he said tersely._

_Before the group could take another step a weak voice stopped them in their tracks._

"_S-stop…I…won't let…you leave!" _

_Sasuke glanced over his shoulder to see the blonde Jinchuuriki staggering to his feet. _

"_I will bring you back…to Konoha with me!" Naruto announced adamantly. "So, don't you dare…walk away…from here!"_

_The Uchiha remained silent and didn't give a single reaction to any of Naruto's words. His onyx coloured eyes stared into the blonde shinobi's sapphire-blue orbs, which was filled with pain and determination._

"I'll bring you back to the village, even if that means breaking every single bone in your body!"

_Without anyone knowing it, Sasuke's breath hitched slightly. _Why…am I remembering that event? _He asked himself._

"_Sasuke, what's wrong?" Karin asked with concern laced in her tone._

"_Nothing," Sasuke replied in a quick and blunt manner. Giving one last look at Team Kakashi, he turned his back towards them. "Let's go."_

_Before any of Team Kakashi's members could react, Team Taka was gone._

"_Sa-Sasuke…" Naruto's words began to fade into the darkness and a few seconds later he did, too. _

I failed…again… _Naruto's eyes closed and allowed darkness to consume him. _

Why…am I so…weak

…

…

…

…Sasuke…

**-X-**

_Hm…how interesting, _Kakashi mused as he watched from his position up on a tree branch. The jounin was curious to say the least. He wondered what in the world did Sakura see to make her react in such a way.

"Shinobi Tactics Two: Genjutsu," he murmured to himself.

Sakura was kneeling down on the forest ground, clutching her head tightly with both her hands. A few tears began to leak out at the corner of her eyes and dripped silently towards the forest floor.

_This…is not… _Her hands shakily formed the Tiger seal. _…Real!_

"Kai!"

With that, the Genjutsu ended.

Sakura panted harshly from fatigue. Despite the fact that it was only a low-levelled Genjutsu, it still took a lot of chakra to escape from it, seeing as how the effect was too powerful. Her jaded eyes narrowed into a glare. That Kakashi… Sensei or not, he was going down for performing a stunt like that on her.

_Okay, I've to focus on finding his chakra signature, _the ANBU kunoichi thought as her eyes fluttered shut.

Besides the medical ninjutsu and inhuman strength, Tsunade had also taught Sakura how to detect a person's chakra when it was masked. Sakura had learnt that no one could mask their chakra completely; there was always a small bit of it unmasked. One of the few flaws of any shinobi and Sakura had learnt how to use that to her advantage.

_There! _Her eyes snapped opened in one second and she disappeared in the next.

"Wha-?" Kakashi only had just enough time to evade the kunoichi's chakra-infused fist before it came in contact with him.

This time the punch didn't simply make a hole in the tree. No…it knocked the whole thing down, sending it crashing towards the forest floor before it split cleanly into two.

Kakashi winced. Ouch…the poor tree…

Sakura knew that she had overdone it when she snapped the tree in half but she didn't care anymore. All she could think of at this moment was kicking her jounin sensei's ass.

"How do you know that technique?" Kakashi asked.

As far as he knew, a technique such as splitting trees in half with a single punch required near perfect…no, _absolute _perfect chakra control to master. He had read Sakura's file and it had stated that she did, in fact, possess perfect chakra control but had absolutely no knowledge whatsoever about advanced Taijutsu; the category in which this technique is classified under. She had some explaining to do but first he must observe her for a few more weeks to see what other abilities she and Sai were hiding from him.

"Someone taught it to me," Sakura said truthfully. She was never good at lying. In fact, she was absolutely _horrible_ at it.

"I see… Well then, it seems that I've underestimated you." Kakashi's lips curved up into a large smile. "I'm sorry, Sakura," he said sincerely, although Sakura could detect a hint of mockery in his tone of voice.

"Well, you'll be even sorrier when I defeat you!" With a battle cry, she charged straight towards the copy-nin.

Kakashi whipped out a kunai and blocked Sakura's incoming tanto swipe. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. It was uncanny for someone like her to just charge straight in like that. That was Naruto's job. Unless of course, this was just a distraction… The chime of bells was heard from behind. Kakashi's eyes widened in realization; so that was her plan. Distract him from in front with a Kage Bunshin and have the real Sakura attacked from behind while he was busy defending himself.

Smart.

Kakashi's leg shot forward and gave the Kage Bunshin a swift kick to the stomach. The clone gasped in surprise before disappearing in a puff of smoke. The ex-ANBU captain quickly turned towards incoming kunoichi. Her fist was glowing blue with chakra and Kakashi had a feeling that if he didn't dodge this attack, it would be the end of him.

Hatake Kakashi, the infamous copy ninja of Konohagakure no Sato, the man who knew more than a thousand jutsu, had fallen by the fists of one _little pink haired kunoichi_.

Oh, what a great way to go down.

"You're mine!" the said kunoichi yelled as she pulled her fists back for the final strike, but before she was able to shatter the bones in his body a loud ring sounded through the forest.

_Phew! Now this is what I call saved by the bell, _Kakashi thought, sweating. _Well, I guess that's that. _He glanced over towards the kunoichi, who pulled back her fists and grumbled under her breath.

Sakura hated this. She was just so close to getting him and the stupid alarm just had to go off. Talk about perfect timing…

"Looks like the test is over," Kakashi stated happily; his eyes creasing into a smile.

Sakura grumbled something which could not be heard.

"But before we head back, I have just one thing to say to you."

The kunoichi's ears perked up at this.

"Shinobi Tactics Three: Ninjutsu."

Sakura raised her eyebrow at this. "What are yo-?" But before she was able to finish, the Kakashi in front of her disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Oh, well what do you know, it was a Kage Bunshin all along.

Sakura gapped like a fish. She was fighting a Kage Bunshin all this time?! How dare he…how dare he underestimate her _again_?!

"KAKASHI! YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT NOW!"

**-X-**

Somewhere in the middle of the forest, the _real _Kakashi sneezed violently before a shiver ran down his spine.

_I sense danger…_

**-X-**

The sun began to set down behind the mountains as Sakura and Sai both headed back home. The test had ended a few hours with unsurprising results. Everyone had passed, including Sai. Sakura just remained quiet throughout Kakashi's lecture. Instead, she had spent the entire time glaring at the masked jounin and plotted her revenge. After the newly formed Team Seven had finished listening to Kakashi, they both headed towards Ichiraku for some ramen, much to a certain blonde's delight. It was here that Sakura had gotten her revenge. She knew how much Naruto worshipped ramen so she used this to her advantage. Using her smarts and her infamous puppy dog face, Sakura managed to bribe Kakashi into paying the gigantic bill.

That was how the infamous Hatake Kakashi had became broke in just one day. Fallen victim to Sakura's ugly face, as Sai would like to say.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Sai mused before ending up with a black eye.

After finishing their meal the five went their separate ways. Sakura waved to both Kakashi and Naruto before leaving with Sai. The Uchiha watched as she completely ignored him and frowned.

"Geez, Hag, what did senpai do to make you hate him so much anyway?" Sai asked as they walked toward their homes.

"He sent a Kage Bunshin to fight me since he decided that I was not worthy of his time," Sakura fumed. "I hate how people underestimate me."

"Maybe you should use this to your advantage instead," Sai suggested.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?" she inquired.

"Well, since people often think of you as a weak, little, pink haired genin-" Sai put his hands up defensively as she shook her fist at him. "Wait, let me finish!"

Sakura lowered her fist but didn't cease her glare.

"-they may get overconfident about their abilities thus leading to their downfall by your incredible inhuman strength."

Sakura looked thoughtful. "Hm, you may have a point there, Sai," she mused before frowning. She whipped her head around to give him a glare. "Wait a minute, what exactly do you mean by _inhuman_ anyway?" she asked suspiciously.

Sai smiled. "Well, you do punch like a mad gorilla. Not to mention your looks-"

Sakura gave him a taste of her 'gorilla punch' before he was able to finish the sentence.

Sai grunted in pain and Sakura smirked in triumph and closed her eyes. "How did you like my inhuman punch now, Sai?" she asked smugly.

No answer.

One of her eyes fluttered open. "Sai?"

The ANBU Root operative was not looking at her but instead, someone approaching in the distance. Sakura turned towards the line of his vision and recognized the familiar shade of raven coloured hair.

Sakura's expression darkened. "What do you want?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at the approaching Uchiha.

Sai blinked, curious as to what Sasuke wanted with them. Sasuke gave the ANBU Root operative a calculating look before returning his attention back to Sakura.

"Drop the jutsu," Sasuke said bluntly.

Sakura's face scrunched up in confusion. "What are you talking about? What jutsu?" she asked annoyed.

Sasuke glared. "Don't act as if you don't know. I'm obviously talking about the Henge no Jutsu. You're not Sakura so drop your act. The Sakura that I know is never this…powerful."

"W-what?!" Sakura sputtered out before giving him a death glare. "You don't know _anything _about me!" she seethed angrily. "Who gave you the right to judge me, huh?!"

"Sakura, calm down," Sai said quietly, although it was still heard loud and clear.

"Stay out of this, Sai," Sakura bit out, without turning to face him. "This is between me and him." She gave the Uchiha a hard look.

Sai hesitated for a second before stepping back as the two engaged in a glaring contest.

"Let me tell you something loud and clear, Sasuke," Sakura started in a surprisingly calm voice. "I'm not the useless little fan-girl, who chased you around 24/7 anymore. You have never even spared me a glance back then so why are you so desperate now, huh?"

"Because you're now different, because you're-" Sasuke got cut off when Sakura let out a dry humourless chuckle.

"I was different back there too, you know," she murmured.

Sasuke looked confused.

"You never even spare me a glance that time." Sakura's eyes fluttered shut. "Do you know how much I've went through, _suffered through_, for you?" she asked rhetorically.

A lone tear escaped from the corner of her eye.

"What the hell are you on about?" Sasuke demanded. "Sakura, you're out of your mind."

The kunoichi's eyes snapped opened at that as she gave him a nasty glare through all those angry tears. "I'm out of my mind? You're the one who's out of your mind!" she spat out viciously. "I hate you! I absolutely _fucking _hate you! Everything is your fault! Because of you, Naruto had to suffer! Because of you everyone almost died! Because of you I-!"

"Sakura, that's enough."

A sharp pain shot through her head before Sakura's vision blurred into darkness. Sai quickly caught her before she hit the ground. Something tells him that he was going to get a beating for this later when she wakes up. He was not going to look forward to that but it had to be done. Sai felt like sighing as he stared down at the unconscious, crying form of Haruno Sakura. Some kunoichi she was, getting her emotions out of hand, but still, Sai couldn't blame her. Even he could feel a spark of anger towards the Uchiha, despite not being able to express emotions that freely like the kunoichi in his arms. He would have to talk to her later about this matter concerning the avenger.

Sai scooped Sakura up into his arms and supported her from her thighs and neck.

"I apologize for her behaviour, Sasuke-kun," Sai spoke as sincerely as possible, although any one could tell clearly that he couldn't care less. "I'll make sure she apologizes to you later."

With a fake smile, the ANBU Root operative disappeared in a whirl of ink before Sasuke was able to respond.

Sasuke stared at the spot where Sai and Sakura had disappeared from. Just what in the world was Sakura going on about a few seconds ago? Him, making Naruto suffer, getting everyone killed?

…What utter nonsense.

For one of the rare moments in his life, Uchiha Sasuke had felt confused. He hated this. He hated not knowing what was going on.

But no matter what, he was definitely going to get to the bottom of this mystery.

_I will figure you out, Haruno Sakura…__no matter what it takes._

**-X-**

**Author's Note:**  
Now you know how much I suck at fight scenes. :p This chapter took twenty pages to write; longest chapter yet. :) Hope you enjoyed it. Please review~ Only a few more reviews before this story hits the one hundred mark. Flames are not accepted. I've already lost count on how many times I have to say this -.- Here's a question for those who are up to date with the manga chapters. What do you think of Karin now? Personally, I never did hated her. In fact, I found her quite interesting. Although, I do like making fun of her at times. XD See ya in the next chapter! :)

**-X-**

**The Pretty List:**_  
Nagasasu  
MarzSpy  
moonshine86  
Aprilia-is-me  
SakuraxRyoma  
Maxmoquito  
angel897  
nayuta  
Emily Le Fay  
Twisted Musalih  
SasoLOVE111  
Hebi R.  
Frenschel Boo  
Bokmal14  
Scarlet-Rose Morseta  
DarkLillyOfTheNight96  
fionfee  
alegre541  
Miss Chocolat  
aero13  
Clary Fray Morgenstern  
lost-broken-spirit  
SaiFanGirl  
Soraya the All Speaker  
Da Cute Snowbunny  
masaaki  
Checkers Lime Viola  
CuteLikeMomiji  
red-dragon93551  
nightdreamerms_

Thank you all for reviewing~ :3

**-X-**

_-Setsuna_


End file.
